THE ACA MOVING FORWARD
The Commonwealth Fund (TCF) released a blog that looked at how those who use the Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s Marketplace could face hardship. New policies will make it harder to enroll, increase premiums and out-of-pocket costs, putting over 24 million people at risk.
Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms also covered the weakening of the ACA through new policy changes that will begin at the end of this month in their blog. Many states have filed lawsuits that are asking courts to block these changes because these changes were rushed through without input from those who use the ACA.
TCF published an interactive map on what the ACA does for each state. Enrollment in the ACA has more than doubled since 2021 thanks to premium tax credits that will expire at the end of 2025. Without renewed support, marketplace coverage will become less affordable for the millions of people that are enrolled in it, especially for people with disabilities.
TCF noted in a blog post on how new federal rules and budget laws are going to make state-run health insurance marketplaces cut off automatic enrollment and tighten eligibility rules. As mentioned before, these issues will be made worse with the expiration of the tax credits and states do not have the resources to educate enrollees and handle the implementation workload effectively.
TCF released an issue brief that went further into the premium tax credits and how they have improved health coverage for millions. However, once they expire, millions of people will lose coverage, which will require more government funding for uncompensated care and lead to worse health outcomes for the disability community.
The disability community utilizes Medicaid, and the ACA Marketplace plans at a higher rate than those without disabilities due to their unique needs. Due to this, the NDNRC wants to make sure that people with disabilities are aware of changes to their healthcare due to major funding cuts to federal healthcare programs.
By updating this newsletter with resources and educational pieces on where disability health policies stand, we hope to ensure that the disability community continues to have access to accessible and affordable healthcare coverage no matter what changes occur in the foreseeable future.
Archives of our weekly updates are available on the NDNRC website.